Tbilisi, Georgia

A week ago Sunday I visited a neighboring country's capital city - Tbilisi, Georgia. It was a very beautiful city, even in the rain. Even though it is a neighboring country, it is very different from the capital of this country. Tbilisi has more of an eastern Europe capital feel than an Asian one - I would compare it closest to Prague. It is fairly spread out with plentiful vegetation and has a vast majority of it's older buildings remaining despite an earthquake a few years ago. Many tall hills, or mini mountains, grace the landscape of the city offering high points of view to the thriving city below. Also, unlike here, there is a huge visual Christian influence - Russian Orthodox to be exact. Many old and modern churches, as well as crosses, adorn the city. The people themselves seem much more accustomed to foreigners and often won't give you a second glance! (I didn't realize how much I appreciated being ignored!)

The boarder crossing was the tricky part. We hired a driver from our city to take us to Tbilisi, drive us around and bring us back. However on the way back we got delayed 3 hours at the boarder before receiving word that our "marshuka" (mini bus) had broken down. It is at such times as this - at 3 am - and in these situations that you see the true character of the culture in which you live. And I was a bit disappointed. They stood around arguing - they being our leaders, the driver and many other people who weren't involved - for an hour about the situation, about money and other things I couldn't understand. However, in the end I was thankful to finally arrive home at 6 am!

While we were there we visited some old bathes, climbed a mini mountain to a wall-in church, saw a hilarious "induction of members" to a group of some sort (this included parading in the rain, reading from a scroll, slapping faces and shoving food in people's mouths!), walking the streets, touring a ginormous Russian Orthodox Church (where a priest was blessing a marriage while checking his cellphone) and a large lake just to the north of the city.

Despite the inconveniences and unplanned waiting, I had a great time! At the boarder during our wait, you will be proud to know that I was my genuine American self and kept everyone (even the boarder officials) entertained with stories, English mind games and the cup clap game!